


This Too Shall Pass

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Awkward Flirting, Department H, Depression, F/M, Hotels, Loneliness, Phone Calls & Telephones, Skye cheers up Coulson, Small Towns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-20 00:08:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2407931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficlet about Coulson trapped in a hotel between his jaunts to/from the base.  And Skye calling him to cheer him up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Too Shall Pass

He can't stop thinking about her.

It's been a week.

Since his last episode.

Not seeing her.

Or was it?

He's confused.

He just needs a moment and then the details become more clear. He's been away from the base for three days. He's headed to Ottowa to meet with his contact from Department H, and his last episode was a week ago.

Right.

The cheap hotel had a decent perimeter layout, and that's about it. He's not even going to bother making a mental note of the coffee, it was left untouched.

He's sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the four walls. All a very complimentary tone of beige.

Except for the comforter.  It's kind of offensive.  Floral but without any of the joy of flowers in even one machine made stitch of it. 

 _It's just for a season_ , he tells himself.

The words _This too, shall pass_ , flicker vividly across his mind and he rolls his eyes.

 _There aren't any missions planned_ , he thinks, standing. Everyone is at the base. Safe. He walks over to the table, flips open his passport, checks the information inside again.

By accident he catches his expression in the mirror above the table, startled by the face he sees there.

He lets his face soften, stares back at it.

God, he looks old.

The phone rings unexpectedly, and it's from base.

He stares at it a moment before picking it up. They agreed to keep communication to a minimum unless it was critical. He's been avoiding the thoughts of sending anyone back into the field after what happened with Hartley and Idaho.  He can't lose any more people.  He can't.

"Yeah," he answers sharply.

" _Hey_."

It's Skye.

He's trying to think of words, something that sounds normal. To say.

" _Skye_ ," he says instead, repeating her name back to her.

There's a small pause. He starts mentally punching himself, what is wrong with _Hello_ or _What the hell's this about because we agreed_...

"So... _don't_ be angry," she starts, cutting off his mental haranguing, "But I got Koenig to let me use the encrypted line."

"For?" he asks. It comes out sharper than he wanted, but he's on edge. Again.

He crosses the room and sits at the end of the bed. Sighs.

"I got video surveillance from the Creel debacle. Which, by the way, I had a headache for several days and I can't believe you didn't make Hunter have to pay for shooting us."

"Is this about the 084?" he asked, getting right to the point.

" _Yes_ ," she answered, and he could hear the frustration there. Tired of him deflecting any discussions of the subject. But it was _his_ call.

"Go," he said.

"I know who took it during the hand off," she answered back. "Raina."

He'd had his suspicions, but now they were confirmed. Raina had also been very interested in Skye. Too interested. His mind started running the scenarios again. Running tests with Skye's blood? His blood?  What happened to Garrett, because of the GH-325.  Raina did that.  Was it some way to control them, or use the alien DNA to...

"Sir," Skye said, interrupting him again. "I just wanted you to know. It's important, right?"

"Yes," he agreed, swallowing, letting his head clear.

"Are you okay?" she asked after a pause. "You're not talking."

"I'm fine, Skye. Fine."

He winced at his own lie.

"This too shall pass," she said sarcastically.

"What?" he suddenly asked.

"It's a proverb, right?  The nuns would say it at the exact moment you didn't want to hear it. It was really uncanny. It's about a great king who is humbled with the simplicity of the words."

"Is that a hint?" he asked with a huff.

"Does Koenig love lanyards?"

_Hmmm..._

He hummed into the phone with frustration, but with the feeling of something inside him becoming a little less taut.

"And, anyway, you're _not_ a great king," she went on.  He could practically feel her eyes rolling. "You're just a guy with nice suits and a cool car and...kind eyes."

"I don't feel so kind these days," he answered back softly.

"This should be the winter of your discontent," she said with a giggle.

"Okay, enough already," he said, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"You got a meeting with Department H. That's good news, right?"

"You're going to cheer me up, I see," he said, standing and loosening his tie.

"Might as well, I've got nothing to do around here," she replied with a sigh.

He heard the bouncy noise, pictured her flopping on the bed in her room.  How had she talked Koenig into giving her that phone?

"There's plenty to do there," he chastised, "If you're looking for work, I can..."

"Let me clarify: I've got nothing _interesting_ to do." 

"I'm going to go get some dinner," he said, looking down at some of the restaurants listed in the visitor's brochure on the table.

Skye started laughing on the other end. Hard.

"Was it something I said?"

"I just saw the tag on the geolocator where you're staying. Did you choose that on purpose?" she asked, sounding scandalized.

"Maybe," he said, pocketing his wallet, smiling to himself and realizing the conversation was about to get completely inappropriate.

Oh well. He felt better now than five minutes ago.

" _Balls Falls_?"

"They're really nice."

He could tell by the way her laugh was muffled, she was covering part of her face.

"You did not just..."

"You asked," he said, with a grin.

"Okay, you got me," she said. He could hear the smile on her face. "I do _not_ have a comeback for that."

"Good," he said. "Because, I'm hungry."

"It's...nice...to hear you smile. Sir."

"Thank you," he said, feeling something tugging at him again, pulling. He would resist the pull, letting the feeling settle on him. Distance. Shake it off.  Lonely . He'd done this a million times in his career.

He was lonely.

"I could just order room service," he said, after a pause.

"Grilled cheese. Can't screw that up," she said. "If they do, abandon _all_ hope."

"One Balls Falls grilled cheese coming right up," he said as Skye laughed on the other end.

He loved hearing her laugh.

"How was the drive?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Beautiful," he said. "I didn't really see it," he said, realizing it as he was talking.  His mind had been buried in so many other things.

"There's always tomorrow."

"True," he replied, reaching in his pocket and tossing his wallet back on the table, he took his shoes off and leaned back against the headboard. "And how was your day?"

"Oh, got in some work at the range. Spent some time..." She was about to talk about the symbols, he knew, but then changed the subject. "I think that May is planning a pretty devastating prank to land on Hunter."

"I warned him," Coulson said.

"You should get back here," she said soothingly. "So you don't miss out."

"I've...missed out on a lot of things."

He heard the sound of her lips part, draw a breath and then a tiny sigh.

Drawing his legs towards him, resting his arm across his knees, he rubbed his temples with his free hand.

He shouldn't. It was a bad idea. If he did, there was no taking it back. It would be safer just to...

"I miss you."

Breath held in, he waited for her to say something in reply. Anything.

"And I  _miss..._ your kind eyes."

He let it out with a sigh.

"You should...probably order your sandwich," she said quietly. "Before it gets too late."

"Good idea," he agreed, standing up off the bed.  "I'll see you in a few days."

"You know where to find me."

He hangs up and puts the phone down on the table, then his palms on its top and leans into it.

_Kind eyes._

Does that mean she thinks he looks at her differently?

He's not supposed to do that. Or, she's not supposed to know about it.

Is it that she likes his eyes and thinks they're nice?

He probably shouldn't get his hopes up, but he likes the idea of that.

Does this mean he also has _unkind_ eyes?

He looks up at the mirror and catches himself there.

The man staring back isn't so much of a stranger now.

Maybe he'll go out after all.


End file.
